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Venture Concept
~ In a single introductory sentence, please provide a very, very abbreviated
description of the company’s
basic
market opportunity... its technology... how its technology is or will be
protected... any regulatory approvals that may be required... its manufacturing,
distribution,
marketing and
sales methods... funding to date as well as future funding requirements...
and the general credentials of the
management team.
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Market Opportunity
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the two most important
(but definitely
not all ) of the following issues:
Identify the
specific
need or
problem addressed by the venture.
Describe
the overall structure, size, and value of the
current
market.
How is this market need
now
being met? By which companies?
How strong is each of these companies
in the current market?
What
share of the market does each
competitor now hold?
What is the size and value of
your
targeted
market niche or market segment?
Describe what the market will be like
five years from now.
Identify likely customers (either by
type or, if possible, by name).
What are their specific
buying habits
today?
How will the company establish its own
position in this
evolving
market? |
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Technology
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the two most
important (but definitely not all) of the following issues
What is the
present state
of the technology in this field?
What is
limiting in the current situation that makes improved or new technology
desirable?
What
competing technologies now exist?
>>>
What
competing technologies are known to be under study or development?
What would be the
relative
advantage of the company's technologies?
What are the
specific goals and
objectives of the company's project? |
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Protecting Proprietary Rights
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the two most
important (but definitely not all ) of the following issues
If proprietary technology results
from this project, who will own the discoveries?
Is there a suitable technology
"assignment" agreement in place between the partners of the company and the
company itself?
Between the
company and its employees?
Between the company and its outside collaborators?
In order to undertake this project in
the first place, are there any
existing patents,
copyrights,
licensing agreements,
trade
secrets, or other types of
protection that must be considered?
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Manufacturing
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the following
issues
How will the resulting products be
produced? In-house manufacturing and assembly? In-house assembly of
components that have been manufactured by outside sources? Commercialization
by out-licensing production and distribution
entirely
by others?
Regardless of the method, how will
quality control be handled?
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Marketing, Sales and Distribution
–
Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the following issues
How will the company take its
products to the market (direct sales vs. rep-based selling vs. a marketing
arrangement that is contracted or licensed to a third party)?
Given the selected approach, how will
this process be managed?
How will the company establish and
support its distribution functions?
Does the project require lengthy
clinical trials and FDA certification before market introduction can begin?
Is some other kind of approval
required (UL, trade group, etc.)?
Does the company understand what is
involved?
Has the time required for obtaining
these approvals been estimated realistically?
Does the budget include adequate
provision for such approval procedures?
Do the company's sales and
cash-flow projections reflect these considerations?
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Management Team
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the following
issues
What is the experience of the
members of the
management
team?
What are the specific credentials of
the team members? Affiliations?
What roles will each member play? What
specific responsibilities? |
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Funding
– Please provide one or two sentences (at most) on the
following issues
How has the project effort been
funded to date?
What funding will be required over
time to support the venture?
What will such funding be used for?
What type of sources are most
appropriate? Most likely to be interested?
What is the company's
strategy
for obtaining funds from such sources?
What are the financial results that
are anticipated by the company? |
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Do-it-Yourself Entrepreneurship 101
Take a company that interests you. Compose a
sentence that fairly and accurately and completely describes this
company.
As a test, keep in mind that this sentence should be meaningful both to the
company itself (i.e., to "insiders") and also meaningful to someone who would
first be exposed to the company strictly through your written description of it.
In addition to factual information, can you write a sentence that conveys the
company’s opportunity in the marketplace and how it will
operate
in order to fulfill this opportunity? Try it.
Neatness.
These simple little sentences often turn out to be not-so-easy to write. Please
feel free to make this written exercise as messy as it needs to be. Cross-outs,
arrows, marginal insertions, etc. are wonderfully helpful and are encouraged. In terms of legibility and neatness, when you’ve got the
words, the sequence, and the concept right, the only requirement is that you be able to read the sentence. It can always be made neater later.
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